Strictly Speaking
by SnufflieSocks
Summary: There's so much that wasn't explained in the series. Priya Henshaw is just one of the thousands of people that have been sucked up into the crazyness that is wonderland. Prophecies are made, Friends are bound; Rated T for safety. Please R
1. These things matter, they

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wonderland and all the characters in it belong to Syfy and Lewis Caroll.  
I, however, do own any of the people you don't recognize, and the plot to the story.  
No matter how cliche it might be. Please read Author's Note at end of story, thank you.  
_

**Chapter One**  
**These things matter, they're important.  
**- Please take a long hard look; I'm history-

Priya stirred in her bed, pushing two fluffy white pillows off the side. They fell to the floor with a soft thud that could barely wake a mouse. Priya Henshaw is a normal girl, with a normal life. There is nothing of interest that anyone out of the ordinary should take up, but that isn't what happened. Infact, the exact opposite happened. She spent her life telling herself she wasn't all that interesting, she wasn't all that unique. She was 'born under the white sun', as many called it, but so were nine other people. There was a meteor on the night she was born, and it shown so brightly, so radiantly, it reminded everyone of a sun. A bright, white sun. The hospital shook as it overpassed the earth, the town. Her town. And then everything was silent. Calm, even. As if time had slowed down momentarily, and with one more beep of the heart monitor nine babies were born. Minutes, seconds and split seconds apart. The media was fascinated by this freak of nature, and every baby that was born got it's ten seconds of fame. And then some. But the baby boom was 23 years ago, and the hype was long over. Until three days ago, when newspapers soared through the roof with information on four deaths and two kidnappings.

The remains of Alease Carter, 23, were found in a riverbed. Suspected blow to the head. Avery Rivers; Gunshot wound, found in an alley. Ben Kelly; Stab wound, found in his apartment by his newly wife. Christina Wiley; Gunshot wound, found in the same alley as Avery Rivers two days after his murder. The two kidnappings would be the James Twins, Stephanie and Justine. No information yet on the disappearances. But none of this concerned Priya. There were always deaths and kidnappings in her town. This was nothing new to her.

There was a slightly cold draft in the bedroom on the top floor. But to be completely fair, it wasn't exactly a bedroom. More-so the top of an overhang that overlooked the living room, kitchen, and dining room of her apartment. A rather large bed was pushed against the back wall on the top floor, two nightstands on either side of it, and right in the middle lay an unmistakably comfortable young woman. She was sprawled out across the bed, arms and legs going in all directions, her hair was wild and crazy. Like it had been up all night partying. No, not her, just her hair.

Crashing not five minutes after her head hit the pillow due to studying until three in the morning, Priya was well aware of the grumpiness that lingered over her head as she got up and threw on layers of clothes. A thin dark grey tanktop, covered by another light grey, and then a red plaid hoodie. A pair of dark grey leggings, a pair of shorts, all covered by a blue plaid skirt. She matched it up with her best pair of black bulky boots, a light black leather jacket, and her large black bookbag. Despite all the black, her outfit was rather colorful. She parked her bike against the back wall and knocked on the Employee-Only door. A tall man with sandy-blonde hair opened it and smiled down at Priya, "I was wondering when you'd be back." Alex said as they walked through the small office into the bookstore. The smell of paper and coffee ran over Priya's body like a warm wave in the ocean, there was a calmness to this place. She wasn't the only one who knew about it, there were several regular costumers that would come here just to relax after a long day at work. It was more than just a part time job to Priya in between studies. Alex, her co-worker, was also her best friend. They grew up neighbors and were friends ever since Pre-School. They even dated, once, in Kindergarten. But broke up due to the conflict if caused when the Monkey-Bar Queen and King of the Bad Boys started calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Long time no see, Stranger!" A woman's voice called from the coffee shop next to the checkout counter. Priya smiled over to Jo, who tied her long curly blonde hair into a pony tail and made her way over to hug Priya. Strands of her hair wiggled their way out of the bindings and curtained around her face. Jo was Priya's other best friend, she was the one you would go to parties with and go shopping with. Alex was more of the go-to guy for advice and a nice relaxing time. The reason Jo and Priya were so close? Jo is the other normal one. They both share the same birthday, and she's the only other one who has been able to stay out of the spotlight as much as Priya. Jo was born two or three towns over, and moved to North Creek when she turned 18. They met at the school Priya attends and became fast friends, only taking notice to the same-birthday-situation a year after they met. Priya often wondered if Jo was well aware of their likeness long before they knew each other.

"With all the studying you've been doing.. And _partying_." Jo raised her left eyebrow and grinned, pushing Priya on the shoulder lightly. Priya shook her head and smiled slightly as she put her nametag and apron on, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Jo made a 'Mmhmm' noise, whipped Priya on the back of the leg with her towel, and went back to making coffee for all of the two customers that were in the book store. Priya pulled her wavy brown hair into a loose bun, lapsing into a train of thought, planning out the rest of her day.

---------

The sound that emitted from Priya's stomach as she kicked up the kickstand on her bike would put an animal to shame, Alex's eyes widened as he looked down at her in a fake-awe. "I think the baby is hungry," He snorted at his own wit. Priya slapped his shoulder playfully and put a hand on her stomach. "I'm just hungry, I haven't had anything to eat today except a handful of goldfish with creamcheese." Alex tossed something cold and wrapped in white paper to her as they both peddled down the sidewalk. "It's only half a sandwich, It's what I had for lunch. Should tie you off until you get home. I'll catch you later!" He took off down another street and was very soon out of Priya's vision. She unwrapped the sandwich; Tuna, go figure. Something sparkled in the corner of her eye, and she snapped her head around - But there was nothing there. For a moment she could have sworn she'd seen a purple cat.

She parked her bike in front of yet another building, this one was much smaller and looked extremely run-down, but there was something to it. An energy, like the bookstore but more enthusiastic. She let herself in the front door, the cool air washing over her body, into a large ballet room. There was a song playing, one of her favorites. A soft, haunting voice whispered lyrics about trying to reconsile with a long lost love. Priya dropped her bag next to her shoes she managed to slip off, and her body moved gracefully against the soft melody of the music. _"I think last night, You were driving circles around me." _She swayed and spun, holding her leg up, letting it fall back down slowly. There were vines hanging off the sides of several pots that hung from the ceiling, seemingly leaning towards Priya. There was only natural light in the room, blinding through the windows. The song came to an unwanted end, and Priya walked against the furthest wall to stretch. She wasn't a professional dancer, but it was something she loved to do in her spare time. There were several things Priya loved doing in her spare time, but they never lasted. Horseback Riding, Scuba Diving, Archery, Karate - Granted, that lasted a lot longer than the others. Her mother was a music teacher, she'd sit for hours and listen to Chopin. Her father was an artist and taught her how to draw. Her phone rang - A picture of a very drunk Jo and a laughing Priya appeared on her screen. "Hey Jo,"  
"We're still on for tonight, yeah?"  
"7 o'clock."

---------

Green eyes idly watched familiar faces down drink after drink, after drink. Priya was the designated driver, meaning no fun for her. She'd go home with a headache, just like Jo, but unlike it being induced by alcohol it would be caused by loud music and over-enthusiastic screams. Wouldn't be the first time this has happened. But it didn't keep her from having fun. They'd run into several friends, shit-faced and the like. "I'm going outside for a smoke!" Jo yelled all-too-close to Priya, who nodded and pushed her friend back slightly. Jo stumbled, snorted, and practically fell out the back door. Priya leaned against a wood pole next to the bar and closed her eyes, tapping her foot to the beat of the music. It wasn't long before Priya grew aggravated at being groped and felt up by drunk guys, she looked at her watch. Jo had been gone for over ten minutes, and it had never taken her that long to smoke a cigarette before. Priya pushed open the back door and walked out into a dank alley, the door slam shut behind her and a blood curdling scream rose through the alley. Priya looked around frantically, and with no sign of Jo, followed the screaming.

Flashes of her karate and self-defence classes started rushing back to her as she dwelled on the worst possible situation she could come to interfere. And then it hit her, as she ran through the alley, behind the pub, and into an abandoned-looking wearhouse. This area had been where all the recent killings and disappearances were. Perhaps all Jo would become was another face in the newspaper with a tragic headline. There was a bright white van in front of her, both of the back doors were opened. Two men struggled to get Jo into it, they were dressed in all black with body armor. Priya stood in shock as Jo struggled against the two men, before the doors shut with a loud bang and the truck drove off. The adrenealine kicked in, Priya ran after the van, pounding on the back door. "LET HER GO!" She screamed, but it didn't matter - the truck was long gone now. She stopped running, her eyes watering, her heart pounding so hard in her chest she was sure it was about to burst, before a hand gripped tight around her arm and pushed her against the dark alley wall. A tall man, dressed in a purple suit, with messy black hair that hung ever so lightly above his orange eyes in strands, pressed a long finger to her lips and 'Shh'ed her. Two more of the men in body armor walked by, scoping out around the alley, before rounding the corner just as the truck had done.

The rather oddly dressed man released her and took a few steps back, and on instinct her leg flew up - kicking him hard in the chest. She spun around, to kick him again, but he grabbed her leg nearly inches away from his face. "Easy, girl." His accent was thick, his voice deep. "You wouldn't wanna lose such a nice leg." He ran a hand up Priya's leg - to her knee, before she snapped her leg back. "Who are you? What have you done to Jo?" The words poured out of her mouth before she had even given much thought to what she wanted to say. The man held up both hands in defence, "Calm down. She's fine, for now. And I haven't done nothin' with her. It's _them_ you should be worrying about."

"Them? Who them?"

"The suits, The Queen, all of them really. I'm Cheshire, by the way. Pleasure to finally meet you, Priya." Cheshire smiled, and Priya gasped; His smile was so wide, she worried it would fall off of his face. His teeth were bright and pearly, so many of them. "How do you know my name?" She asked, dazed almost, and then wanting to slap herself at the stupid question.

"I've been watching you. Well, The resistance has been watching you. And your friend, Jo. We've been keeping tabs on you. Making sure you're safe." He explained as he began walking around the corner. Priya stood against the wall, confused, tired, and more than sure her ankle was sprain from kicking him. "You comin'?" He called after her. Priya jogged up to his pace, "What do you mean 'The Queen'?" asking in a tone of voice that made him raise an eyebrow. "The Queen of Hearts, little Oyster." Cheshire smiled once more. Priya pushed her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, brows furrowed. "Look, I just want my friend back." She stopped and turned to him as they approached a large mirror, bordered in gold. Cheshire looked into it and ran his hand through his hair a few times. "Well, In order to do that I'm going to need you to come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"To Wonderland, of course."

"Wonderland? I don't und-"

"I'll explain when we get there, come now. We don't have much time." Cheshire slinked his arm around the small of her back and walked closer to the mirror. Priya opened her mouth but Cheshire shot her a look that shut her up. "Now, Remember to breathe. And don't let go of my hand at all times, do you understand?" Priya fought against his grip, which made him grip tighter and grab her other hand. "Do. You. Understand?" His voice became frustrated, hard. She simply nodded with one thing on her mind: Making sure Jo was safe. None of this made sense, She thought as she stared into the mirror. Cheshire backed into the mirror - and pulled her along with him. But instead of falling against it, they fell right through as if walking right into a pool. They fell incredibly fast, and Priya's eyes shot closed tight. Her stomach was in her throat, loud thundering noises boomed in her eardrums, threatening to burst them. Cheshire's voice echoed in her mind, _"Remember to breathe," _and she took a long, steady breath in. She felt his grip slip slightly, and held tighter. She felt gravity pull at her in all directions, her eyes shot open - Trees swayed around her, and they fell, faster than before, towards the leaf-covered earth. Priya's head made contact with a large rock, pain seared in her head as green and brown colors fuzzied and faded together.

* * *

**Authors Note: PHEW.. That took me so long to write.. Because I kept erasing and re-writing everything.. But I think now I'm on a track, and I know where I'm going with this. I just needed a push to get started. Okay, so the changes I made that you'll see in this story are: Hatter never went back with Alice; The Queen is still in power; Mad March is not dead; And The Cheshire Cat? .. Actually a person! Who works with the Resistance! Well, He's as much of a person as a Wonderland-er who can turn into a cat can be. Hehe. Anyway, This is my first major story.. Please be kind, but please review that way I have inspiration to do a next chapter! Possible Hatter/OC. I'm not sure yet, We'll see when the time arises. **


	2. I'm Caught in the Middle

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wonderland and all the characters in it belong to Syfy and Lewis Caroll. I, however, do own any of the people you don't recognize, and the plot to the story. No matter how cliche it might be. Please read Author's Note at end of story, thank you._

**Chapter Two  
A Spider Web and I'm caught in the middle  
**-So I turn to run, but thought of all the stupid things I'd done-

She could hear the ocean. Waves flowing gently over the soft, sandy shore. The water was bright teal as rainbows danced in the reflection of the sun. Something was familiar about this place, but Priya couldn't quite place it. A golden-bordered mirrored was half-buried in the sand; In front of her feet was a pair of worn ballet shoes; Books floated atop the water, onto the shore. She leaned down to examine the book that washed up in front of her. A couple soaked pages fell from it as she picked it up and examined the book. _Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. _What was familiar about this? She opened it in the middle, only to find a cobweb, and pages that had not been written on. A red glare caught her eye and she turned - The sun was reflecting off of a puddle of red water. Confused, Priya turned to the mirror. Her hands were bloody, a long cut lined the hallow of her cheek. She turned, not aware as to why she did, almost out of instinct. A long blade stuck out of her back, beads of blood ran down her dress. Waves crashed against the rocks as Priya felt a sharp sting across her cheek - And she woke.

The first thing she saw was trees. Very, very tall trees. Ones you wouldn't find in her city's national forest. At first she didn't wonder why she was here, or how she got here. It was a calm split second, and then everything rushed back to her. The bar; Jo; Cheshire; Falling through some weird black hole. Priya sat up swiftly and looked around her - Her eyes setting upon Cheshire in front of her, with a worried look on his face. Her head pounded and throbbed in her ears as she sucked in a breath of air. It was all too real, too _vivid _to be a dream. "You hit your head-" Cheshire pointed to the rock that had a smear of blood on the side of it, "-pretty hard. I know it hurts but we have to go." His voice was quieter than normal, hushed. He pulled Priya up and held her steady as she swayed this way and that. Sharp pain seared in her lower back as she seethed and doubled over. She heard Cheshire take in a gasp of air, and with a completely disgusted tone, "Oh that's a lot of blood. Come on. We need to go."

They half-ran through the strange forest, Priya still dazed and disoriented by her head-wound was more dragged through the forest than anything. Guided by the light of an overly-large white moon. Cheshire kept telling her to 'Pick up your feet' and 'Stay with me' every time her eyes would start to cross and her legs start to grow weak. There was a loud shriek in the distance. _No. _Not a shriek. _A growl. _They stopped, and Priya's head began screaming at her: _Run! What are you doing?! Run! _But Cheshire had a firm grip on her arm as he turned around slowly and was not as willing to let go as she had hoped. She felt something hot on her exposed shoulder. Breath. Priya shivered slightly as Cheshire moved in close to her and whispered "I need you to count to seven, and on seven. I need you to run. Do not turn around. Do not stop until I tell you to."

Another rush of hot air hit Priya's exposed shoulder, and the adrenaline started pumping through her veins. She turned to Cheshire slightly, "If I run away from you, How are you going to tell me to stop?" It wasn't the exact set of words Priya was hoping that would have come out of her mouth. She was more-so expecting, "How the hell is this possible?!", "What's behind me?!", and "Are we going to die?!", "I want to go home!"

Cheshire sighed and tensed up in frustration, he dropped his grip from Priya's arm. "Start counting." He disappeared behind her, and the large trees swayed towards her. _One._ She could hear the leaves crunching under his feet. _Two._ _Three. _It can't be real. None of this is real. The trees, the smell of rain. _Four. _Jo. _Five. _Where's Jo? Is she okay? Did she fall in the same spot as us? _Six. _Oh God what have they done to her. _Seven. _"Run," Cheshire's voice came in as a whisper in her head but hit her like a brick. She took off straight, hearing only the sound of her breath and the leaves and twigs snapping under her weight as she toppled in different directions, trying to get away from God-Knows-What, going God-Knows-Where.

She could have been running in circles for all she knew. It all looked the same. And as Priya ran as fast as she could through the forest, no matter how far she ran, she could still hear the stomach-churning noise that couldn't have been less than five feet behind her. It wasn't as much of a growl as the sound of metal being crunched up into a tiny ball, and then sliced in half. Except perhaps ten times louder, and more disgusting sounding than that. The pain in her lower back and head had gone away temporarily, and Priya silently thanked the adrenaline as she nearly tripped over several fallen trees. "Run faster!" A disembodied voice rang next to her head. It only took her a second, and a glance over at the disembodied _head _floating just as fast as her, to realize it was Cheshire. Priya felt like screaming. Not out of fear, but frustration and disbelief. But she continued running, because it felt like an earth quake was right behind her. And quite frankly, she wasn't all that curious to find out what the earth quake really was.

"Run through that set of trees! Hurry!" Cheshire demanded, and Priya searched the forest in front of her as she ran - looking for the 'set of trees' he meant. She took the two tall-and-skinny trees directly in front of her as a guess and ran through them - as a loud, nasty, wet sounding crack rang in her ears the following second - not stopping until the ground stopped shaking. Cheshire appeared in front of her, body and all. He too, seemed to be out of breath, as he put a hand on Priya's shoulder gently.  
"What.. was that.." She gasped in between breaths, afraid to turn around.  
"Jabberwocky." Cheshire said matter-of-factly, "Nasty little things, yeah?"

Priya turned around to face the 'Jabberwocky', which had a smell of rotten egg and sulfur. It's neck had been broken between the two trees, and it slumped against them, it's head hanging down and two long slimy tongues sticking out. Priya could only describe the foul creature of having the body of a dragon that mated when a mutated chicken. It was something you'd expect to see on a cheesy horror movie that ran out of monster ideas. She turned back to Cheshire, who grinned at her slightly. "See? That was easier than I - AH! OW!" Just as Cheshire began talking Priya let loose, her fist flying and meeting the right side of Cheshire's face that she could have sworn had her name on. "What the bloody hell was that about?!"

"What. THE HELL IS THIS PLACE." Priya yelled back at him as he checked his nose for blood.

"It's WONDERLAND. As I kindly stated before you willingly let me take you here!"

"Willingly?! I highly doubt it could be considered _willingly._ You pushed me!" She scoffed at him.

"You weren't even dru-" The argument was cut off by more crunching leaves behind Priya, as a somewhat-tall fellow stood atop a fallen tree. Priya turned around swiftly, her eyes looking him up and down as they filled with curiosity. He had blonde hair, and wore a black suit. Her face fell into a smirk as she noted the look upon Cheshire's face - _annoyance. _He rolled his eyes, and did a little curtsy towards the new fellow. "Hello, _your majesty._" Cheshire snorted with sarcasm. The man smirked back, and then his eyes fell upon Priya. "Are you not going to introduce me the woman I hope can save this place, once and for all?" Priya's eyebrows shot up into her hairline as she threw her hands in the air, turned on her heel, and started heading the opposite way of both Cheshire and the new fellow. "Screw it!" She yelled back at them.

Cheshire ran after her, "Priya! Wait." But it didn't stop her. What did stop her, was the thought of Jo. She was still gone. Priya was still unsure of what happened to her, of what was happening to her. She turned back to face Cheshire, almost running into him as she did. "Look, pal. I'm here to get back my best friend and then I'll be off. I don't know anything about this place," She looked back at the Jabberwocky, and then back to Cheshire, "I'm sure it's nice and all but I don't know what he means by saving it. I couldn't even save my two goldfish a day after I got them. I can hardly believe you people expect me to save whatever needs to be saving here. I'm just here to get Jo back, and make sure no one else gets hurt." She took in a big breath of air at the end of her mini-rant.

"Feel better?" Cheshire asked.

Priya nodded, "Much."

"Jack Heart." 'The New Fellow' held out his hand, Priya shook it. "Priya Henshaw."

"Good, Glad you two have gotten aqquainted. But we have some more pressing matters at hand." Cheshire interrupted, and Jack nodded.

"Priya I understand you're confused right now, But we need you to give us a bit of time to explain our circumstances." Jack kindly stated, placing his hand ever so lightly on the small of her back, guiding her up the hill he was previously standing on. "As Cheshire informed you, This is Wonderland. A world completely different from your own," Priya let out a quick laugh and glanced back at the Jabberwocky as Jack led her to a brown horse, behind it a white one eating some grass. "The Queen of Hearts has taken control of it for several years now, and we're trying to take it back. We being the people of Wonderland. It's become a dark and dangerous place, and we want to restore it to it's natural peaceful enviorment."

"And how can I help with that?" Priya asked quietly, making sure to ask the right questions, and all the more get the right answers. She hopped up onto the brown horse with Jack's help.

"There were ten of you.. It was a, freak of nature. Somehow a meteor from Wonderland crossed over into your detention - Your world, and it.. Caused quite a stir. You see, There are millions of prophecies written every day; every minute, in Wonderland, so it wasn't a even a blip on our radar when something showed up about a girl. But then things started happening that matched what the prophecy predicted, and just as it said, six were killed in cold blood. The prophecy clearly states that a girl, not naming which girl, but a girl, would help restore Wonderland to what it originally was. To help end all of the bad, and bring back the good." Jack went on, the words flowing clearly through Priya's ears as she tried to comprehend what he was saying.

"We hadn't payed much attention to this prophecy before, because we had thought Wonderland had already been saved.. A girl named Alice took down the whole house of cards. It was nice, while it lasted." Cheshire interjected, riding behind them on a white horse. "The Queen of Hearts regained her control, only this time it's worse. She's taken percautions, she has nearly all of Wonderland behind her."

Priya shook her head and smiled, "I still don't understand how I'm able to help in any of this. I don't know your world, I don't know how to take down the Queen."

Jack nodded in agreement, "Yet." He stated simply. The rest of the trip was quiet, silent. Cheshire and Jack let Priya venture deep into her own train of thought, not interupting her unless they had something important to say. She was unsure of where they were going, but trusting. The look in Jack and Cheshire's eyes when they explained how deeply they wanted to save this place was too much for Priya to just turn her head and tell them they were all mad. It was nearly dawn by the time Priya finally spoke up, "Where do you think Jo is?" She asked anyone who was listening, glancing over at Cheshire. He put his head down in an attempt to hide his eyes, and Jack took in a long breath of air. "If she's still alive she's with the queen." He said, ending the rest of Priya's questions right there.

It was another hour before they finally stopped, coming upon a small camp. Something white glimered in the corner of Priya's eyes, and she turned her head - An old man lay in a cot between two trees, wearing a one-piece-pajama, snoring loudly with his teddy bear. Jack cleared his throat, the old man didn't stir. "Charlie," Jack said a little louder. He still didn't move. "Cha-" Jack began, but Cheshire hopped off of his horse and began banging pots and pans together. The old man, Charlie, shot up out of his sleep and looked around frantically. A calm setting upon him as he recognized the faces around him. He stood up and strode over to Priya, "Aahh! Our new tiny masiah!" He examined her from head to toe. Priya smiled, holding her hand out in front of him. "Hi, I'm Priya."

Charlie took her hand and shook it swiftly, he glanced over to Jack who was adding twigs to the fire, "Much like Alice of Legend, don't you think?"

Jack's face fell.

* * *

**AN: Holy cow. I started this chapter way back when and I got so side-tracked with life it got so crazy I completely forgot where this story was heading. Thankfully I was able to refresh my memory while finish up writing this. This was slightly shorter than before, sorry about that. I plan on going into more detail as to where Jo is and all that halabaloo later on. I'm trying not to go too fast with this story, so bear with me! Thanks to my two reviewers from before for inspiring me to finish this Chapter (: Please R&R it means so much!  
**


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